“We wanted to incorporate the highest of technology but we want to be the center of it,” musician says

The long-awaited Kiss Forever immersive avatar show is coming to Las Vegas in 2028. While specific details are still being kept under wraps, Kiss founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley did have a lot to say about the show they’re planning during an appearance at Pollstar Live!, the three-day music industry conference taking place this week in Hollywood.  

During the event’s centerpiece panel presentation on Tuesday, the pair were joined by manager Doc McGhee and Pophouse Entertainment CEO Jessica Koravos to talk about their progress on the innovative music experience and how they plan to preserve their iconic personas for fans. During the conversation, they emphasized their intentions to outdo other tech-driven attractions around the world, including Sin City’s much trumpeted Sphere shows where mega-acts like U2, Phish, and Dead & Company have performed. No Doubt are set to take over next month, followed by Kenny Chesney in June and Metallica in October. 

“People were saying, ‘Why don’t you play the Sphere?’” Stanley said early in the discussion held inside the Dolby Ballroom at Loews Hollywood hotel. “And the truth of it is, the Sphere, at least for me, minimizes a band, it makes a band miniature. You’re not going there to see a band, you’re going there to see screens. We wanted to incorporate the highest of technology but we want to be the center of it. It’s a very different experience than going to see a postage stamp with a band on it while you’re watching screens. This is the antithesis of it. It’s 180 degrees from that.”

A live concert is much different from an avatar experience, where band members aren’t actually present. However, Stanley and Simmons both touted the realism achieved by Pophouse, the Swedish music catalog investment firm co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus. Pophouse is a founding investor behind ABBA Voyage, which features “ABBAtars” performing in a custom-built arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. 

Stanley said the ABBA avatars, which feature members as they were in 1971, look so real, he thought he was actually going to get to meet them after the show. McGhee added that seeing ABBA Voyage directly inspired Kiss to create their own experiential music attraction, adding “it sparked hope for the future.” 

Kiss debuted avatars at Madison Square Garden during the band’s final “End of the Road World Tour” show on Dec. 2, 2023, but Koravos told Pollstar magazine earlier this month that those were merely “an early prototype” and a lot has evolved since. For instance, they’re emphasizing pyro effects and LED screens as a big part of “the crazy 4D roller coaster ride” they’re creating. 

The Kiss camp also discussed their history, their fandom, their merchandising successes (noting enthusiasts like Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, who is buried in a Kiss coffin) and their upcoming Kiss Kruise: Land-Locked convention at the Virgin Hotel in Vegas in November. Simmons also touted his latest project, producing the new film, Deep Water, starring Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley.

Though the panelists were careful not to reveal too many details in terms of what the Demon, the Starchild, the Spaceman, and the Catman will be doing beyond playing music, the discussion seemed to suggest never-before-seen or heard interactions with fans.

“The show is going to be spectacular but it’s only as good as you put into it because the personas are there and acknowledge you,” Stanley said. “It’s very different than anything that’s been out there. We’re your travel guides through basically Kiss worlds as opposed to being limited to the stage.”

This article was updated on April 17 at 12:51 p.m. to include Pophouse being a founding investor behind ABBA Voyage.